George Lucas & Haden Blackman

Guru/developer

As directors are to film, Blackman is to “The Force Unleashed,” spearheading LucasArts’ much-anticipated, long-delayed new game — the biggest title of the year on the company’s relatively small slate.

“The Force Unleashed” bridges a key gap in geek history: the passage between “Revenge of the Sith” and the original “Star Wars.”

In an inspired bit of role-reversal, gamers will play Darth Vader’s apprentice, hunting down the last Jedi. “George (Lucas) gave us an hourlong history lesson and let us go away and write a story, encouraging us to create original characters that filled familiar archetypes and giving us feedback as to how Darth Vader would act as a master,” Blackman explains.